Jeanette Q. Spring died on May 13, 2016 in Noank, Connecticut. Born in Bangor, Maine on March 13, 1931, she was the daughter of the late Rev. John L. and Mary G. Quigg. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, the Rev. Merle E. Spring, and her granddaughter, Rachael Kathrin Adkins. After graduating from Colby-Sawyer Junior College in 1951, she married her hometown boyfriend, and in the 1950s they lived in the western US while he was a pilot in the US Air Force. In the 1960s, she completed her bachelor’s degree (and later her master’s) at Eastern Connecticut State College and began teaching at West Vine Street Elementary School, where she taught hundreds of children over more than 20 years.
She will be missed by her family and friends. She was a loving sister, wife, mother, grandmother and aunt. She was known as Jeanette by her sister, Gerry Keutman and her husband Chuck; her brother Jack Quigg and his wife Marty; and as Mum by her children, Gary Spring and his wife Sarah, Debby Dutton and her husband Phil Plouffe, and Kathy Adkins. Her grandchildren - Jesse Bastide, Matthew Bastide, Andrew Dutton, Melissa Livingston and her husband Andrew, and Sean Adkins - knew her as Mimi, and her many nieces and nephews called her Aunt Nett. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Wanda Brown and Claire Osborn.
She lived a long and happy life, and was well known for her willingness to express her opinions, and for her constant playfulness, as well as her broad sense of humor. She was a member of the Old Mystic Baptist Church where her husband was minister for more than 30 years. She was always an independent, mischievous “preacher’s kid,” a bobbysoxer who danced in a conga line through the stores of Sanford, Maine, to celebrate V-E Day. The minister’s daughter was proud to become a pilot’s wife - she hadn’t married a minister. This meant that when she later became a “parson’s wife” she ensured that her time with the church was hers given freely, and so she was indeed grateful for the many hours she shared with so many good friends. Among her fondest memories were the cross-country trips to new assignments when her family was young and her visits to Europe and Hawaii later. She enjoyed many summers camping with the “Matagamon Gang” of friends, and she and Merle counted as a special blessing this time they spent with the children of their friends. Perhaps her greatest joy came from watching her own grandchildren grow up. She loved to see Melissa swimming the breaststroke, and Andrew at the butterfly, and Sean wrestling or pitching.
As her children, we are so grateful for the many forms of support given to us and our mother in the last year of her life. Her years spent at Mystic River Homes were marked by comfortable friendships with the staff and her neighbors. She had a great loyal faith in her doctor and the many medical professionals at the Dana Farber Cancer Center and the Connecticut Center for Hospice Care. We thank them all, for they were consistently patient, kind, and gentle. We are especially grateful to her sister, our Aunt Gerry, for the grace and kindness and comfort she shared with us this year.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 21, at 11:00am at the Dinoto Funeral Home, 17 Pearl Street, Mystic. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to a charity of your choice or the Old Mystic Baptist Church Memorial Garden Perpetual Care Fund c/o Kathy Adkins, 375 Baskins Rd, Unit 16, Rock Hill, SC 29730.
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